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Saturday, October 25, 2008

The Best Nest

We have a lot of estrogen in our office…. And I don’t just mean the Premarin samples. We have 4 physicians (3 who are moms and one that’s “trying”) two nurse practioners (both moms, one that’s pregnant) and about 16 employee’s (all women). We’re OB/GYN’s so the only men in the office are the patient’s husbands. The atmosphere is pretty relaxed and the conversations at the lunch table can get pretty strange (The Tampon had been in for HOW many weeks?). Is it just our office where people yell down the hall “Who’s hoarding the Gynezole because I really have a bad yeast infection!!!”? Hmmm. I was afraid of that.

I’ve been here over three years now, so the newness has worn off, still I feel really blessed to have found such a good fit. Sure, we have our moments but for the most part we get along. We genuinely respect each other personally and professionally. I know I can count on my partners if I have a bad hemorrhage in the middle of the night and need a second set of hands in the OR. More importantly, I can also count on them if I need some one to talk too.

We hired a new office manager recently, who came to us from a cardiology group. The first time one of us cancelled office to go to our child’s preschool play she looked at us like we we’re crazy. She has quickly learned that our families take top priority and that is our office culture. Our walls are plastered with pictures of the babies that we’ve delivered as well as pictures of our own families. We often gush on and on with stories of our children. Because we can. My patients who I haven’t seen in awhile will always ask about my son and what he’s up to now. I ‘m a doctor. A good doctor. But being a mom is a huge part of who I am as well.

Recent good question, “How do all those women get along?”Answer: “fine most of the time”Truth: Two medical assistants once got into a screaming match in the hallway over salad dressing (don’t ask).

Recent stupid question, “ Four ‘lady’ doctors in the same office…. Hmmmm… do you all cycle at the same time?”Answer: “What the *&$#%^??????”Truth: No.

So, as I prepared for Halloween next week, I realized that it was a Friday (our busiest day). I asked the receptionist to block any openings in my schedule. “Honey, we already blocked the afternoon, to get everybody home in time to take the kids trick or treating.”

6 comments:

Aw, that is great. My office is the exact opposite of yours, and this is the reason I am moving to greener pastures! (PS. Didn't mean to step on your post, I tried to date my post for Sunday, but it published anyway!)

Lucky you! How can we propagate that family-friendly culture in medicine generally, or even more so, in traditionally family-unfriendly fields such as surgery? Employers should realize that happy employees are loyal employees.

Mothers in Medicine is a group blog by physician-mothers, writing about the unique challenges and joys of tending to two distinct patient populations, both of whom can be quite demanding. We are on call every. single. day.

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